JamesPerrin's Airfix AH-1 Lynx **FINISHED**

[JamesPerrin]

Coming along James, I think its quite a nice little kit given its age .

Yeah its obviously an early kit of the type with a few "prototype features" but is better than the MB and Frog kit. It's lot cleaner and generally more accurate than the "heavily" detailed Hobbyboss kits, which have failed to supplant it unless you really must have engraved panel lines

[kruaxi]

Seems amazing

[Softscience]

Wow James, that cockpit looks terrific!!!!

[smethwick]

Coming together nicely..nice work...still watching..:-)

[JamesPerrin]

Time to replace the detail I'd sliced off the engine housing. I should have used that clever idea (sorry I forget who) of plunging hot plastic through a scribing template to make the new larger bumps, instead I persevered with building them up from drops of liquid putty The new vents were made from very thin card - I used the stuff Airfix 54mm figures come with for belts - which was scored and bent to form the sides. A smaller vent was also added between the exhausts.

Though I'm going to do an unarmed AH-1 the TOW sight's base is still present. This is a solid roof to the operators seat with a flat round disk blended into it. See here for an example. To cut a circle of card I used a normal desk hole punch, which happened to be the right size, and puttied it in to the glazing piece.

[jssel]

Ooooooooh, very good work, James. Coming together nicely.

[MerlinJones]

Great stuff so far, James.
I'm sure you have it on your list of Things To Do, so don't forget to re-shape the footlight windows.

Regards,
Bruce

[JamesPerrin]

Great stuff so far, James. I'm sure you have it on your list of Things To Do, so don't forget to re-shape the footlight windows.

It was actually on my list of things I can't be bothered to do. The glazing is stuck in with white glue so I can always pop them out and glaze them with PVA later, if I can be bothered

[MerlinJones]

A proper square window is just small enough to be Kristal Kleared.

Regards,
Bruce

[TimJ]

Nice bit of detailing work.

[JamesPerrin]

Glazing is in. I left this till after construction of the fuselage as I didn't what the speck sprites to go mad on the insides while I was sanding fuselage joints. It was a bit of a fiddle as the wind screen needed careful jiggling to get it into the front. The side windows needed a little off the top to be able to get the snuggest fit that only required a little PVA to fill gaps at the corners. Time to get this one masked up and reading for a grey spray.

[JamesPerrin]

<snip>
2. The over simplified TOWs will either be not used or replaced altogether as I can find no pictures of the 3 on each side configuration in the kit. In service 8 TOW missiles were carried.

You might be right, but I do have some photos of early AH-1s at home. I remember looking at these, and looking at my kit, and thinking "something's not right - the green isn't the same, and how do I make the missiles look like that". I can't remember the number of missiles, but it might be 3 per side. Even so, OOB doesn't cut it here. Watching what you do with interest, because I think you're going to give me more good ideas of how to tart up this kit.

Cheers Bruce. I did post this a little further down:

Did find out that the 6 tubes that with the kit were British HOT missiles, though deployed were very rarely used (not seen any photos) and the US TOW system basically was standard.

[JamesPerrin]

Realized I'd not filled the hole where the missile cradles attach fill, fill, sand, sand and then that the cabin roof had cracked where I'd clamped it down to meet the windscreen fill, fill, sand, sand....

Added the top door rails and sanded these down as thin as I dare: port before, starboard after thinning.



Probably not that noticeable but just reduces the chunkiness of these very over scale items. If you don't want working features a 0.5mm wide strip of card would suffice.

OK Bruce I've squared up the footwell windows so you can call off the heavies!

[MerlinJones]

OK Bruce I've squared up the footwell windows so you can call off the heavies!

I should think so, too!

Heavies recalled.
...And I've pulled back the Literacy Louts as well!

Regards,
Bruce

[JamesPerrin]

...And I've pulled back the Literacy Louts as well!

who's going to help me with my homework!?